Yeah, the things we believe to be true about gender are actually illusions derived from what we've been told and what we've experienced personally. There is no basis in reality for people of certain genders to be expected to behave in certain ways... just our own beliefs about how people are supposed to behave and be treated (our beliefs shape our world). We begin to see that this is the case when we expand our vision to encompass other people's lives and experiences. What we call 'typical' is just what we oursleves have experienced most in our lives. And as we know... everyone has a different experience of life. I find it a tragedy that we impose our beliefs about gender on people so strongly... expecially when we do it to our children, who will naturally pick up on those signals and behave in the ways we expect them to because they want us to love them more than anything else.
Gender behavior, yes, it's mostly a representation of our beliefs. However, gender itself is an immutable fact. I respect people who want to behave differently (i.e. my sister, who loves to blast rap while driving an F-350 Diesel pickup truck, plays guitar, and is a national-level cyclist) from the perceived norm for their gender. I do NOT respect people who want to change their actual gender though... But hey, this isn't the thread for that sort of discussion. We're celebrating the arrival of a new life in this world! More specifically, Justin's little girl, Zoë! I'mma pop potions and eat cake on Minecraft till the wee morning hours!
